A group of local residents that has formed a new non-profit foundation to raise money to help working families obtain affordable housing in Little Compton will hold a community meeting on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 10 a.m. at the Community Center.
Dr. James Lock, CEO of The Commons Foundation of Little Compton, said the foundation’s board has asked representatives of the town council, planning board, Little Compton Housing Trust, the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, and the United Congregational Church to join them in making brief presentations, lasting about 10 minutes each, at Saturday’s meeting. Upon completion of the presentations, the meeting will be open for general comments and discussion for anyone in attendance.
Lock said he and various other community members, all of whom are long time Little Compton residents, have been meeting regularly in recent months and all agree that the lack of appropriate housing in town is not only getting worse, but threatens the fundamental fabric of the town.
Lock said the foundation’s organizers are well aware the problem won't be easy to solve. For that reason, they concluded the best approach would be to focus on just one segment of the community that struggles with housing costs — young working families.
In an attempt to include as many voices as possible in the conversation, he said the group has reached out in recent months to farmers, teachers, police officers, and tradespeople for their perspective and insight.
Lock and others also knew it would be critical to partner with others in town who are currently working on the problem —“That’s why we called this meeting,” he said, “so everybody in town who is interested in this could get together to compare notes and discuss what each of us might be able to do, or not do, to make things better.”
Alarming trends
The foundation’s board chairman, Little Compton resident Joseph Azrack, said an analysis of census numbers highlight a disturbing trend. While Little Compton’s overall population of 3,500 was relatively unchanged from 2010 to 2020, the population of those 18 years of age or younger declined 44 percent, from 700 to 392.
Additionally, enrollment at Wilbur & McMahon Schools declined more than 33 percent in the same period, from about 300 in 2010 to just over 200 in 2020.
Azrack said that when the foundation’s organizers began meeting during the summer, they looked at what other communities facing similar challenges, including Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard, have done.
“We’ve learned a lot from their experiences and that’s been guiding us to some degree. One of the principal learnings from that research was it really does take a village and to be successful, you have to be engaged with and informed by other community organizations and the people who live in town year-round.”
Lock said Block Island impressed his group in terms of its ability to find solutions, but he acknowledged that community is far different from Little Compton.
“The thing that every successful community has in common — every single one — is access to a significant amount of money. Without that, this is an impossible problem to solve.”